kaiserreichfandomcom-20200223-history
Liberia
Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast under the protection and authority of the United States. Since 1870, Liberian politics has been dominated by the social conservative Americo-Liberian True Whig Party. The Americo-Liberians are responsible for spreading Christianity to the country but have also adopted some West African traditions. Secret Societies, such as Poro for the lower classes and the Masonic Order of Liberia at the top ensure that the rich stay rich, and the poor can govern themselves from behind a mask of secrecy. The Weltkrieg was a dark and conspiratorial time for Liberia. The French listening post in Monrovia was nearly discovered in 1917, the German Ambassador disappeared, and the borders moved. During the Revolution in Britain, Sierra Leone was occupied and then annexed by France. The wave of Leonese refugees was exceeded by the Ivorian refugees later. Deutsch Mittelafrika seized the French colony of Côte d'Ivoire in the confusion of the French Revolution, creating even more border tensions in Liberia. Now Liberia is engulfed by debt from failed projects, her economy in the hands of Firestone Natural Rubber. History 1917 - 1920 The first phase of the Weltkrieg saw the German Empire leaning on Liberia for trade, as all French ports in Africa were closed to them due to the war. In 1917, 75% of Liberia's trade is with Germany, and the German Ambassador stands to benefit financially from this situation. At the same time, the French Embassy is being used as a listening station, with cables sent to the Ivory Coast daily. The French Embassy intercepted information on submarine movements in Kamerun in late 1917 and reported this to the Ivory Coast. The record indicates that Liberian President Daniel Edward Howard held meeting on the German Ambassador with Allen Yancey on Nov 14th. The German Ambassador greeted the new Liberian Ambassador to Germany, Al Haj Massaquoi, on Nov 20th of the same year. The topics of these meetings were not recorded, but records were placed in the Presidential Palace without comment. A party held by Jenkins Yancey was the last place German Ambassador was seen. The current debt Liberia has to the US stands at $3.4 million in 1938, due to difficulty in trading with Germany and general incompetency. The slowly draining rubber trade Liberia maintained with the US has left the nation $4 million USD in debt. A loan request sent to Congress is not approved, due to austerity measures of Woodrow Wilson. As a response, Charles D.B King is chosen by the members of the Grand Lodge of Liberia as the next President. 1920-1930 The French nation, now in retreat economically, stir doubt in the Ivory Coast. Ivory coast citizens, begin to apply for legal citizenship in Liberia, as well as crossing the border illegally. In an unusual bipartisanship, the Liberian People’s Party pledges support for the Buchanan Sanniquelle Railway. Funding of $3 million USD is raised to build the rail line in the US. The $3 million venture attracts a lot of anticipation among Liberians and Ivory immigrants, who wish to make temporary income as construction workers. After a rapid construction project, which was overseen by a member of the US Corp of Engineers, the railway is complete and is christened “The Liberian Main Line Railway.” The cruiser finds the ambassador missing. Since his body is nowhere to be found. The captain decides to fire several retaliatory shots at the Liberian merchant navy as it leaves port. The end of German British hostilities shocks the Liberian community because the Peace with Honor accord formalizes the transfer of Sierra Leone to France. Surprising to even the Sierra Leoneans, refugees are expedited to Liberian citizenship. The immigration agencies own inefficiencies being seen as par for the course in Africa. The 1923 election becomes more intense with Thomas J Faulkner, the Liberian People’s Party candidate. Charles D. B. King is advised within the Freemason Lodge to rig this election. The US observers do see evidence of voter fraud at the offices, and this is reported along with the presence of socialism in Liberia. Frank E Tolbert, the brother of Justice William Tolbert, is deemed too angry for a position in the Liberian Supreme Court. He instead invests more time into the Liberian Freemasons. Allen Yancey confers with D.B King on the possibility of a True Whig loss. Yancey promises a large retirement package for D.B King if he falls from grace, sealing the deal with a contract for Yancey to take profit from any Rubber trade. George Padmore, Trinidad born socialist, moves to Liberia in this wave of national enthusiasm for growth. The idea for a free black state enshrined as “The love of liberty brought us here” draws a lot of attention from Marcus Garvey’s newly formed Universal Negro Improvement. Several construction workers who joined the Liberian People’s Party acquire English translations of the Communist Manifesto, pamphlets of the International Workers Association, and defect from the party. Marcus Garvey responds by writing a letter to the Universal Negro Improvement Association, stating “Further twisting of foreign ideology will not free the negro man, neither will delusions that we will be given freedom by ideologies other than our own”. President Hoover, facing lobby pressure to keep rubber sources open to the US, as well as his belief that socialism should not be allowed to grow, agrees with D.B King not to dispute the election in return for more compliance with the US gov. Harvey Samuel Firestone, founder of Firestone, successfully convinced Henry Ford to seek rubber in West Africa rather than Brazil. Soil samples were only safe to take in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Ghana. 1930 - 1936 J.J Dossen finally reaches James W. Ford, an opponent of the Firestone plantation. Ford advises Dossen to use the Liberian legal system to attain justice, and to strike if all legitimate paths fail. Harvey Firestone, seeing a vulnerability in the Liberian political system, calls prominent judge William Tubman about a potential campaign for presidency. Since Firestone is white, he cannot run for President. Tubman receives $50k in his Swiss bank account a month later. The Firestone Natural Rubber Company has opened for business, and many syndicalists agree to hide their membership in order to monitor the human rights at the plantation. The 1931 Presidential election is the first one without major influence of the True Whig party. Edwin Barclay wins, ushering a time of legitimacy for the True Whig Party. Politics Parties True Whig Party The party ideology is that of rigid social conservatism, which upholds the informal goals of the Liberian government and Americo Liberians. Those goals are the strict hierarchical social order of Americo Liberians on the top and Native Liberians on the bottom with as little intermingling as possible. The strict requirements of citizenship, being black, is upheld along with the Christian mission as the True Whig's fortress. They see the wave of Syndicalism and Liberalism coming from America and the Caribbean more as threats than opportunities. The True Republican Party Hailing as a return of the defunct Republican Party of Liberia, the Republicans stand for the financial future of Liberia above all else. Due partially to the failed railroad projects that deepen the debt crisis, D.B King and Allen Yancey formed this party in 1931. Another ally came in Harvey Firestone, who funded the creation of the party in order to expand his own business interest. William Tubman was chosen as the party's Presidential Candidate due to his clean record, and solid intellectual background. The Republican electorate comes mostly from the Americo Liberians, who wish to see Liberia succeed economically. A small portion of the Native Liberians also joined the Republicans, due to their promises of normalizing the economy. The Republicans wish to reform Liberia to follow the line of the American Republican Party. Independent True Whig Party When the True Whig Party passed the Citizenship Act, a large amount of Native Liberians were swooned to join the True Whig Party. At the same time, many Native Liberians saw this opportunity to split the True Whig Party. Louis Arthur Grimes, a respected judge known for his legal critique, decided to throw his hat in to become the next President of Liberia. Unfortunately, the True Whig Party denied his request, and the Liberian Freemason Lodge refused his appeal. Spurred on by a wave of Liberalism crashing into Liberia from the recent American immigrants, Grimes decided to form his own party. The Independent Whigs are in favor of a gradual ending of slavery through the Liberian Congress, and the emancipation of slaves in an orderly systematic way. the Independent Whigs are willing to incur more debt in order to buy the freedom of Liberian slaves, which the international community on the whole supports. Secret Societies Liberian politics are strongly influenced by the presence of secret Societies, most notably the Masonic Order of Liberia. Masonic Order of Liberia Freemasonry in Liberia is a highly prominent and secret fraternal organisation in Liberia. Their ranks consist of upper-class Americo-Liberians and is working with Poro The Poro is a men's secret society for the lower class of Liberia, where they govern themselves behind the mask of secrecy. How large and influential this society is unknown. Unconfirmed rumours claim that the Poro is becoming increasingly radicalised by the far-left ideologies. Category:Liberia Category:African countries Category:Countries